DALLAS TWP. – Last week, all of the emotions of opening day stalled just four hours before kickoff. Dallas had to pick up and get itself amped once again for the truncated 2020 season.
Seven days later, the Mountaineers overcame what could be chalked up to a case of opening day jitters before returning to their old form.
Dallas came back from a first-quarter deficit to score four unanswered first-half touchdowns en route to a 48-12 rout of Wyoming Valley West in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 game.
A COVID-19 case on the Dallas campus canceled a Week 1 matchup against Tunkhannock. The Mountaineers players found out the news at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. Seven days later, the Mountaineers totaled 358 yards of total offense against a Spartans squad that had difficulty catching up to their speed.
“We talked about banking days,” Dallas coach Richard Mannello said. “So when we hit a yellow light or red, we got enough in the bank to come back. On Wednesday, no practice. They came here on Thursday, and we had to match two days into one.”
After losing a bulk of its talent from last season’s Class 4A state runner-up team, the Mountaineers seemed in dire shape in the opening eight minutes, fumbling the ball three times while losing possession once. Wyoming Valley West’s Donte Rhodes correctly read a Dallas blitz and found Tyler Weidman for a wide-open 42-yard touchdown to take a 6-0 lead.
Dallas (1-0) came back to life after the first quarter. On the opening play of the second, Ben Fife scored a 40-yard touchdown on a slant play to take the lead. Sixteen seconds later, the Mountaineers added to their lead. Jake DelGaudio recovered a fumble on the kickoff, setting up a Parker Bolesta run into the end zone unfettered for a 13-6 advantage.
The Mountaineers rallied for 27 unanswered points to put the game out of reach by half’s end.
Fife went unstoppable on both side of the ball. He caught three passes for 172 yards with three touchdowns. He also finished with a red zone interception.
“Early on, I could see it in his eyes he was pressing too much,” Mannello said. “He’s been named captain and we’re running a lot of the offense around him. At halftime, I said, ‘Just relax, you’re putting too much pressure on yourself.’ You saw it: he’s got some jets and he can go.”
Making his first start at quarterback, Dallas senior RJ Wren went 7 for 13 for 261 yards. He threw for five touchdowns. Wren closed the second quarter, avoiding a sack and flipping a shuffle pass to Bolesta for 9-yard touchdown.
“Everything was clicking tonight,” Wren said. “The line blocked, receivers caught the ball – I just had to throw the ball and make the play. It was all a team effort, and I couldn’t be happier for this team.”
Bolesta had a rushing and receiving touchdown. He led the Mountaineers with 61 rushing yards on six carries.
Wyoming Valley West’s Rhodes ran for 154 yards on 14 carries. He had both a passing and rushing touchdown.
Dallas 48, Wyoming Valley West 12
Wyoming Valley West`6`0`0`6`—`12
Dallas`0`27`21`0`—`48
First quarter
WVW — Tyler Weidman 42 pass from Donte Rhodes (kick failed), 4:02
Second quarter
DAL — Ben Fife 40 pass from RJ Wren (Jace Chopyak kick), 11:53
DAL — Parker Bolesta 15 run (kick failed), 11:37
DAL — Zack Chamberlain 52 pass from Wren (Chopyak kick), 6:46
DAL — Bolesta 9 pass from Wren (Chopyak kick), :31
Third quarter
DAL — Fife 65 pass from Wren (Chopyak kick), 7:13
WVW — Rhodes 3 run (kick failed), 3:48
DAL —Fife 67 pass from Wren (Chopyak kick), 2:33
DAL —Rocco Ormando 43 run (Chopyak kick), :44
Team statistics`WVW`DAL
First downs`10`13
Rushes-yards`34-179`28-97
Passing yards`79`261
Total yards`258`358
Passing`7-13-1`7-14-1
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`0-0
Punts-avg.`5-30.6`2-34
Fumbles-lost`2-1`3-1
Penalties-yards`3-20`4-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WVW, Darius Redguard 6-15, Rhodes 14-154, Ryan Meyers 1-(minus-5), Weidman 2-5, team 2-(minus-24), Josh Koval 2-12, J’Von Gamble 2-10, Patrick Meade 3-8, Jarrett Kasarda 2-4. DAL, Wren 8-37, Jake DelGaudio 6-33, Fife 2-18, Bolesta 6-61, Ormando 2-44, Marc Karcutskie 2-9, team 2-(minus-5).
PASSING — WVW Rhodes 7-13-1-79. DAL, Wren 7-13-0-261, Jackson Wydra 0-1-1-0.
RECEIVING — WVW, Weidman 1-42, Connor Olisewski 2-35, Jordan Redguard 1-(minus-8), DRedguard 1-3, Jerimiah Williams 2-7. DAL, Bolesta 2-14, Fife 3-172, Chamberlain 1-52, DelGaudio 1-23.
INTERCEPTIONS — WVW, JRedguard 1-0. DAL, Fife 1-0.
MISSED FGs — None.
